Improvement in railway-signals



W. WICKERSFTAM. Improvement in Rai'lway- Signals. "Nu-129,877

Patented m 23,1872,

msuixm MW W WILLIAM wroxnnsnnmor BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

mmovsmEu-r IN] RAILWAY-SIGNALS,

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 129,877, dated Jnly23,1872.

Specification describing certain Improvements in =Safety-Signals forRailroads, by

WILLIAM WIcKERsHAi/r, of Boston, in the State of Massachusetts. v Thepurpose of my invention is to prevent accidents on railroads from thefollowing causes: First, when roads of a single track seen, onefrom theother; only for a short distance, and from the train ahead being behindtime, or the following train being ahead of time, or from boththesecauses, an accident is liable to occur from collision. In the first ofthese cases I establish a series of signals on each portion of the roadswhere accident is liable to occur, so that the first train enteringontothis portionof the road will automatically signal to the other end,so that an opposite train coming up to the first signal will not onlysee that a train has entered onto the opposite end of the signaledportion of the road, but can see also the distance it has advanced orthe number of signal-stations it has already passed. In the second caseI establish a series of signals over such portions of the road needingthem in such manner that a the following train, when approaching thefirst signal-station of any series, can see if the train ahead haspassed the whole series, and

if not, how far it has advanced-that is, to

what station in the series-which will determine whether the followingtrain shall stop or proceed. t v

The first feature of my invention relates to the device for takingmotion from the carwheeland communicating it to every station of theseries, and consists of a wire near and parallel to the track, whetherstraight or curved, suitably supported bybearings, so that it canrevolve freely, furnished with arms at intervals, p Qjecting from it,and arranged so that when the first train passes over the track it willmove the first arm of the series, thereby revolve the wire throughoutthe whole series, moving the arm at next station into position, so thatthe train,when it arrives, will move it also, causing the wire torevolve further and bring the arm in position at the third station to bemoved when the train reaches it as the first and second, and so onthrough the Whole series, one of the arms being moved at each station,and each one revolving the wire, and the last one in the series sorevolving the wire as tocause the first arm in the series to be placedin position for the next train to move it, and to move all the otherarms in the series in turn as the train advances through the series, asbefore described. The second feature of my invention relates to themethod of signaling from therevolving wire, and consists in an uprightshaft, connected with the revolving wire by gears or otherwise, on theupper end of which there is a glass globe, or globe made of sometransparent or translucent substance, with figures on the outsideindicating the progress the cars are making over the, signaled part ofthe road, zero (0) denoting the state of the road before the train hasentered onto the signaled part ,prafterdfihas passed entirely ovffitftlie figures beiir covered by a case, except the number in? dicating thelast signal-station passed b.

the train, until it has, passed the signaled 6rtion of the road, andthen the globe wills ow zero (0) again. The third feature of m inventionrelates to my method of indie ting, by the signal, the time of thepassage f the last car of the train instead of the fir t one, andconsists of a bar extending along the track of greater length than anyof the spaces between the wheels, so that when the first wheels press itdown it will be held down until the last wheels of the train leave it,when it will be raised up by spring or weight, and by so raising up apawl attached to it will turn aratchet on the revolving wire a, causingsaid wire to turn, thereby bringing another number to be seen as thesignal that the train has passed the station indicated by that number.The fourth feature .of my invention relates to a method by which boththe approach of the train to a signal-station and the passage by it ofthe last car are indicated, and consists of a combination of thefirstandthird features, as described.

Figure 1 is a plan view of my signal, showing the two plans of turningthe wire extending between the stations. Fig. 2 is a perpendicular andsectional view of the arrangement by which the time of the last wheelsof the train, as well as the first, are indicated by the signal. Fig. 3shows the position of the arm on the revolving wire at each stationbefore the train enters onto the signaled part of the road. Fig. 4 is aside elevation, showing the globe on which the figures are placed withone side of the case taken off also showing one with the case on, andanother indicating the passage of the first wheel of the train by thestation.

A is the rail. B is the case around the translucent globe having theindicating-figures. a is the revolving wire, extending from one stationto another. I) b, &c., are the bearings supporting the wire a. c c, &c.,are the arms and their hubs on the wire a. at each station, on which thecar-wheels act as they pass over the track. d is a bar of metal,extending along the rail close by its side, in length equal, at least,to the widest space between the wheels in the train. This bar issupported by the support d hinged to bearings ff. 0 is the ratchet-gearon the revolving wire, which is acted on by the pawl attached to thesupport 01', all working together in such manner that when the car-wheelpasses over the railA the bar (1 is forced down to a level with the topof the track, and the pawl i is moved down one notch on the ratchet-geare, and, as the bar d is long enough to reach from one wheel to anotherof the train, (one wheel always coming into it before the next one inadvance leaves it,) it is held down until the last wheel of the trainleaves it, when it rises up, causing the pawl i to turn the ratchet-geare and the revolving wire a the distance of one tooth. g is the carwheel.71. h, 850., are the glass globes on which the figures are placedindicating the station last passed by the train. j j are the gas-jetsinside of the globes h h. l l are shafts supporting the globes h h, onthe lower end of which are gears m m m, which are turned by the gears nn n on the revolving wire a; and these gears are of the same size, andso connected as to cause the shafts Z l l to revolve once around whenthe wire a revolves once around. 0 is a weight on the arm p, attached tothe back end of the support d in such manner as to keep d in its upperposition when the car-wheels are not holding it down. q is a spring tokeep the pawl '5 in its place. 1" is a spring, which may be used insteadof the weight 0, if found more convenient. s is a dotted line,indicating the height of the top of the rail. 25 is a post or supportfor the shaft Z and the globe, and a u are bearings for it.

Having described the parts, I will describe the operation of my signal,as follows: First, I will explain the operation of my signal when thearm 0 is the only part coming in con tact with the car-wheels,indicating only by the signal the time the first wheel of the trainreaches the station. Secondly, I will explain the operation when the barat is substituted for the arm 0, making the signal indicate the timethat the last wheel leaves the station. Thirdly, I will explain theoperation of my signal when both arms 0 and the bar at are used, makingthe signal indicate the time that the first wheel of a car reaches astation, and also the time the last wheel leaves it.

First, the wirea is fitted into the bearings I) b b so that it will turnfreely around, whether in a curved form or straight, and there is placedon it, at each station, oneiof the arms 0, and these are fastened ontothe wire a so as to turn with it, and they are adjusted on the wire, asshown at Fig. 3, where the position of each arm 0 on one wire is shown,making one series of signals, revolving the wire once around by thetrain passing over the series, so that when it approaches the firstsignal-station the first car-wheel presses onto the arm 0 and moves itdown to the dotted line s-that is, to a level with the top of therail-its position being dotted, as shown at 0, just below the line s;and, as all of the arms a in the series are fastened onto the same wire,they will all be moved to a second position, which is shown by thedotted lines; and after the train has passed the first station they willall remain in their second position until the train reaches the secondstation, when the car-wheel will throw 0 to the line .9 which was thesame elevation above the track as c was before the carwheel approachedit, and by 0 being brought to a level with the track 0 is brought to thesame position as c was before the car-wheel approached it, and so on tothe end of the series and at each station, in this case, all of them arecaused by the car-wheels to move one-tenth of a circle, and, as thereare ten in the series, they are caused to revolve entirely around by thecars passing over the whole series, leaving 0 in its first positionready for another train to perform a like operation with them. In Fig. 4the car-wheel g is approachin g the arm 0, which it must carry down to alevel with therail by passing over it, and as the gear 11. worksinto'the gear m on the shaft 1, to which the globe h is fastened, theglobe must turn one-tenth of a round, and instead of presenting zero,(0,) as at B it will present 1, as at B and each successive stationwhich the cars pass in their progress through the series presents ahigher number, until, having passed the whole series, zero (0) ispresented again. One of these globes may be at every station, if needed;though I have placed them at only part of them in the drawing. Theglobes 9 should be of ground glass or translucent porcelain, so that thegas-lights j j will show the figures plainly after night. The stationsmay be quarter or half of a mile or any convenient distance apart.

Secondly, I will explain the manner in which I make the signal indicatethe time that the last wheel of the train leaves the signal-sta tion.The bar d, having a support hinged at ff, extendsalong the track andclose enough for the car-wheels to pass over the top of it and press itdown,as shown at d by dotted lines, and of sufiicient length so that itwill be keptdown from the time it is moved down by the first wheel ofthe train until the last wheel leaves it, and then said bar 11 is causedto rise up to its first position by the weight 0 or the spring 1', andthe pawl 73, which was brought below another tooth in the ratchet when dwas pressed down, will turn the ratchet-gear e and the wire a by atbeing raised up,

and, as before explained, through'the gears n and m and the shaft 1, theglobe h h is turned. around one-tenth of a circle, so as to presentfigure 1 instead of zero (0) after the cars pass thefirst statiomand topresent one higher number for each station the train passes until it haspassed the signaled portion of the road, andthen zero will again bepresented. 7

Thirdly, I will explain my method of indicating by the signal the firstapproach of a train to the statiomand the passage of the last car by it.I accomplish this by a combination of the first and second methods-thatis, I have at each station an arrangement as shown-in Fig. 2, the arm 0onlyone-twentieth of a circle above the top of the rail, and also thebar d with the ratchet e and. the pawl i, so that when a trainapproaches a stationthe first car-wheel will -'has passed over, and thelast wheels of the last car have left and released the bar 01, it risesup, turning thereby the ratchet e and the wire a and the globe itanother twentieth of a circle, causingfigure 1 to bepresented,as at BFig. 4, so that whenever it is desirable it can be seen at anysignal-station, both the arrival andleavin g of the train, and the timeof arriva1 and leaving of each train at each station maybeautomaticallyregistered by having a sheet of paper placed on a revolvingcylinder under a pen which moves from one end to the other intwenty-four hours, and so connected with the wire a that the pen shallbe raised from the paper or moved laterally at every arrival ordeparture at the stations of the trains; but as the method of doing thisis well known it need not here be described.

It is proper to say here, that my method, as just described, ispeculiarlyfitted for signaling around curves, and, indeed, for every useneeded by railroads; it'issimple'and effectother methods in use, and canbe used for purposes which no other method hitherto devised will answer.Signaling around curves is done simply by having the wire a curved tosuit the curve of the road, as shown in Fig.1.

Having thus described my invention, I will state my claim as follows:

l. I claim, in safety-signals for railroads, a seriesof arms, c c c,&c., in combination with the wire a, to which they are attached,constructed and arranged as described, so that a train in passing overthe. signaled part of the road shall successively press the arms of theseries down, and so that when the train has passed the whole series oneof the arms at the begining of the series shall be in the right positionfor the next train to press down, as before described, the movement ofeach arm in the series causing said wire to move in the same direction,as and for the purpose set forth.

2. I also claim the globe h with its indicating figures, in combinationwith the wire a and the intermediate gears m and n and shaft l,substantially in the manner and for the pur pose set forth.

3. I also claim the device for turning the wire a part of the way aroundwhen the last car is leaving the signal-station, consisting of the bar11, the pawl c, and the ratchet-gear e, substantially as described, andfor the purpose set forth. 7

4. I also claim the device for turning the wire a part of the way aroundat the time the train approaches any particular station, and part of theway around at the time the train leaves the same station, consisting ofthe arm 0, in combination with the bar (1, the pawl cf, and theratchet-gear e, substantially in the manner and for the purpose setforth.

5. I also claim a series of arms, a 0 0, connected to and in combinationwith a curved wire, a, constructed and arranged as described,

for signaling around curves in railroads, substantially as described,and for the purpose set forth.

6. I also claim an arm, 0, attached to the wire a, constructed andarranged as described, so that said arm will revolve and move downwardonly when on the side next to the rail, in contradistinction tovibrating or moving down by the pressure of the car-wheel, and rising upwhen released from that pressure, as and for the purpose set forth.

- WILLIAM WIGKERSHAM.

Witnesses: CHARLES M. HEATON,

F. M. HEATON.

